


Stick by my side

by Emilywemily



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Dark Comedy, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas-centric, Death, Dirk Strider and Dave's Bro Aren't the Same Person, Dirk Strider and Roxy Lalonde are siblings, Established Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, F/F, F/M, Family, Haunted Houses, Heaven & Hell, Homophobia, Humanstuck, I tried at least, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, Kinda, Kinda?, M/M, Mentioned Kankri Vantas - Freeform, Mild Gore, Murder, Murder Mystery, Paperwork, Possession, Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider are Siblings, Rose Lalonde being a sarcastic asshole, Strilondes, Taxes, Well - Freeform, but like seriously give him a hug my poor boy, death brings a lot of paperwork, have you played ‘death and taxes’?, oooooo spooky ghosts, the afterlife is kinda similar to that in this, we know who dies but the killer is a mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28718730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emilywemily/pseuds/Emilywemily
Summary: “Being a ghost was harder than it looked, especially when you’re a poltergeist like Karkat Vantas is.”Stuck on earth in the house he was killed in, his own house no less, the eighteen year old needs to find out what his unfinished business is, and how to track down his killer without leaving his home.But when the new guy moves in, is romance a possibility?Trigger warning for homophobia and references to child abuse(I do not own homestuck)
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Sollux Captor/Aradia Megido
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Stick by my side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just something I’m doing for fun. Although it does have a big plot and overarching story, it’s not my main focus fic. Therefore updates will be spotty at best and at worst rare.  
> However, this will get at least three more chapters about the same length, or longer.

Crimson droplets dripped down, glistening in the sunlight as they trailed off of the eighteen year old’s fingertips. His flesh was twisted as the blade went deeper and deeper into his skull, his grey matter being breached in an agonising rip, tearing the pieces apart like pulling gum off of a shoe. Blood dripped down his nose as the boy laid on the ground, coughing and spluttering a disgusting mix of phlegm, vomit, blood and spit. The cold silver gently slid from out of his cranium, all the while red thick warm liquid ran furiously down his back, most likely due to his many other stab wounds. The mask killer snickered, before fleeing the crime scene. 

This was this boy’s death. Though his file wasn’t nearly as descriptive.

——

Name: Karkat Vantas

Gender identity: Cis male

Age: 18 years, 5 months

Time of death: 3:12 pm

Occupation in life: Worker at a coffee shop

Sins: Minor theft at fifteen (basic groceries, toiletries and a pack of cigarettes), lying, continuous blasphemy, and wrath

Positive effect on the world: has talked one Sollux Captor out of suicide many times, Captor later went on to invent a new brand of iPhone, with a large portion of the money gained going to help fight global warming.

Negative effect on the world: Minor theft caused a business to lose money

Afterlife: heaven 

Time on earth until ascension/dissension: until unfinished business is sorted plus 1 (one) year

Biography: Karkat Vantas is a white American male who is of European decent. Vantas grew up orphaned in the foster care system, getting out and finding a home when he was ten years old. He faced many hardships including growing up in foster care, isolation from his friends due to his personality type and quirks, homophobia as well as verbal abuse from an ex-boyfriend. Vantas is loud, brutally honest, foul mouthed and commonly described by many as an ‘asshole’. He has, however, shown genuine kindness and selflessness as well as a deep love for the friends around him. Often covering for them, lying for them, comforting them in their times of need and even stealing for them when they couldn’t afford basic necessities. Due to this kindness, his blasphemy will be overlooked to a certain extent. This however does not excuse his constant wrath, which will be tallied against him, forcing him on earth for one year longer than needed. This, taking into account context and age, has been deemed a suitable punishment for mr. Vantas.

——

That had been the file that came back. It had appeared in his hands once he’d materialized. But the only thing was that he had no fucking clue what his ‘unfinished business’ actually was. He had a feeling he wouldn’t find out anytime soon either. So here he was, essentially stuck on earth for possible centuries unless he found out what his unfinished business actually was. Hell, he hadn’t even seen the killers face or heard their voice. So essentially he was pretty much fucked in that regard assuming he had to seek revenge on his murderer. Not that he wasn’t vengeful, he actually was beginning to sort of understand the ghosts that go crazy in movies now. He somehow still felt a much more dull sense of pain from his injuries. And he had this burning urge to throw shit around. But he restrained himself. For now, anyway. He could break a window after he found out what his unfinished business actually was. 

The place he’d been forced to haunt was his old home, his body had been removed and the place had been put up on the market for what he could only assume was an incredibly low price as someone had actually been killed there. He lost track of the days but by floating over to the digital clock he had he could tell it had been around two months since he passed away. He had also discovered he could not go father then thirty meters outside his house, otherwise he’d teleport right back to where he died. So sadly he’d never see any of his friends or his brother again. He decided to file that under “be depressed over later” in his brain.   
  


The salesmen who were giving house tours were obviously aware that Karkat had died rather brutally in his kitchen. With them often skipping that room or just giving a very brief look around if the potential buyers insisted. 

“...I personally think this is a very good price for what we’re giving you. It’s cozy, right next to a park and has a great garden!”   
  


These were the words the teenage ghost heard pretty much every week. And it was getting old really fast. He’d resorted to doing basic scares, or at least tried to. He leaped out with a scream, flying high above one of the buyers. A middle aged woman, who looked extremely bored of the house tour. But she simply ignored him. He quirked an eyebrow, and waved a hand in front of her face. “Oh fuck no, no way in hell. Don’t tell me...” Karkat stammered as he flew next to her, frantically waving his arms in front of her. Again, the woman did not react. And for around a solid minute, Karkat Vantas was quiet. Silent even.

That didn’t last long. 

“HOLY FUCK I’M A GODDAMN POLTERGEIST!” He screamed in frustration. That did however make the woman stop, turning her head and waiting a moment before shrugging to herself and walking off. She heard him. Holy haunted shit he heard him! He began screaming, insulting, shouting and doing everything as loud as he could and the woman was starting to look a little unnerved. “Stupid drains. Hope this place isn’t as fucked as the rumours say it is.” She mumbled. Oh great. He’d been reduced to some creaky pipes. Fucking _fantastic._

So he did the next best thing and started flipping over furniture.

  
Yes, he promised himself he wouldn’t do it. “Too cliché” he’d said. “Too “paranormal activity”” he’d said. But when you’re in a situation like Karkat is, it’s hard not to go back on your word at least some of the time. 

“Jesus Mary and Joseph!” The woman cried in shock as a chair flew into the wall next to her. “Hey, I’m kinda strong like this.” Karkat smirked as he chucked more furniture. The woman began screaming and sped out the building, clutching her purse and tripping over her own feet all the while. “Wait! It’s not how it looks! Miss? Miss!” The salesman called after her. Karkat dusted his hands off and put them on his hips triumphantly. This was _his_ house. And as far as he was concerned, it was going to stay that way. 

But this one kid. This one motherfucker. He thought Karkat’s ghostly shenanigans were cool, funny, and “hilariously ironic”. Did... did this piece of shit even know the meaning of irony? Much to the young ghost’s dismay, about four months later one Dave Strider soon moved in to the old haunted bungalow.

—————————————

  
“I can not believe that you decided it was a good idea to move here. Truly, your intuition for staying out of trouble is fantastic.” A female voice sarcastically drawled, sporting a thick Texan accent. “Look, ghosts are cool as fuck man. What if she’s like Casper?” Another more smooth voice responded in the same accent. “She? How do you know this ghost is a she?” The woman spoke curiously, and it was obvious to Karkat she was smiling while asking the question. Wait. Were they talking about him?

“Simple, girls get pissy when it’s their time of the month. And she was super pissy- OW!” He cried, and Karkat guessed the girl hit him in some way shape or form. Dave had been calling out with she/her pronouns to Karkat much to his dismay. He was glad the piece of shit had been put in his place. “Ignoring the blatant sexism, do you actually think this ghost would be friendly if they were throwing furniture at you? It seems like they want you out for good...” the ghost wandered into the room where the two were chatting. Boxes filled with books, cloths and other miscellaneous junk were scattered around the living room. A short, rather chubby woman, looking around his age was holding a box, presumably helping the other guy move in, had an annoyed look on her face. She was well dressed, with dark brown skin and short blonde hair cut into a bob. Most interestingly, however, were her violet eyes. 

The boy was a lot skinnier, but they looked extremely alike. Same large nose, same wide eyes, same jaw and round face, same skin tone, same _everything._ Obviously twins. He had light blonde hair like Rose, but wore a much more casual outfit, opting for red converse, red and white long sleeved shirt, and blue jeans. He was also wearing shades inside, making it hard to tell what face he was pulling or what he was feeling at any given time.   
  


“Well if you’re all sorted, I’ll leave you and your specter to get aquatinted.” The woman finished before gently putting down her box containing a PS4 gaming console, HDMI cable, controllers, and a few other leads. He was pretty sure a few games were in the box too. “Thanks Rose, there was so much shit I couldn’t move it on my own.” He nodded, his face still stoic. The woman, Rose, smiled slightly. “Of course, brother dearest. Although it perturbs me that you require my “weak” womanly strength.” Her tone was practically dripping with sarcasm as she forced a smile. Her brother scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Ok, fine. I’m sorry.” He said reluctantly. She waved her hand. “I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive your bigotry, must you wound me so?” Rose gave her brother a gentle yet playful nudge. He smiled a little though he tried to hide it. “See you later tonight, ok Dave?” Oh great. They were coming back. Awesome. Well at least he had confirmation on his name now. “Oh! Roxy and Dirk are coming with.” Dave seemed to perk up at this. “They are? It’s been like a week since the whole family’s been in one place. Sounds sick.” He gave an emotionless thumbs up. Rose stifled a smile. “Mind if I bring Kanaya? It’ll be rather annoying being the only girl in the group.” A single nod from Dave gave Rose her answer. They waved and parted ways.   
  
Karkat went up to Dave, his feet still on the ground. Dave took in a deep breath before walking through him. “Rude.” Karkat half-sarcastically grumbled before opting to fly next to Dave. The living human bent down, rummaging through a rather large box that the ghost hadn’t yet investigated. It was the only box with the word ‘ _ **fragile**_ ’ written rather crudely around the side in thick black marker and underlined once. “What is he doing?” Karkat wondered out loud. He’d made that a real habit now considering no one, or next to no one could hear him. 

  
Out of the box Dave pulled a camera, flash and a strange radio that made Karkat’s ears hurt with the high pitched noise it was emitting. Not quite bad enough to cause him to cover his ears, but annoying non the less. Dave pulled out one more item, a small metal box with dials on the side. He pushed a green button, and electricity zapped through the air, something only Karkat could see thanks to his status as “undead.” Dave held up the machine and closed his eyes.

“If there are any spirits here, speak to me. I mean no harm.” The ghost stopped. “He isn’t serious, is he? Oh my god this isn’t insidious you cock sucking paranoid fashion disaster put that thing down, goddamn.” Karkat yelled to the ghost hunting human. A garbled noise came through his machine. “I can replay these later, please keep talking mr. or miss Demon dude.” He held the recording device higher. “For fuck sake you failed abortion put that thing away!” This was getting old now. He wasn’t his personal entertainment center and he certainly wasn’t a friend. He would talk if it got him to shut up. That was it.   
  


“Holy shit...umm, what’s your name?” He mumbled the first half of the sentence, but then almost yelled the second half. The sweater-wearing spirit crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to start throwing furniture around maybe stab you. Actually I definitely won’t stab you but I swear to God I will break your fucking mirrors and give you so much bad luck!” Dave shrugged. “Long name.” This caused Karkat to brown loudly, coming out as a kind of snarl. Dave jumped back at the noise.

“How...are you the guy who died in this house?” He snapped a picture with his camera and flash, causing Karkat to be mildly stunned for a second from the suddenness of the taking of his picture. Karkat scoffed. “That’s hardly any of _your_ business, dick for brains.”   
  


Dave shrugged. “One more question. Are you here to hurt me or others?” Karkat flipped him off, despite him not being able to see it. He huffed out a sigh, arms still crossed over his chest. “No. I’m not going to hurt anyone. But I have a request...” what was he saying? This might be his only chance to get help for his ‘unfinished business’, and well, he might as well take it. “If you can understand this, I want you to help me figure something out. It says on a note I got that I have unfinished business. I don’t know what that is. I’ll let you live here, no more furniture throwing or anything, if you can help me figure out what the hell it’s meant to be. But if not, you can fuck right off.” He finished. After waiting another minute to make sure Karkat had finished speaking, Dave thanked him and walked off with the box in his hands. When he came back the box was gone and he picked up another, packing his stuff away presumably. 

——————————————

The doorbell rang clearly a couple hours later, and Dave paused the TV that unbeknownst to him was also being watched by Karkat. A pillow shot at Dave’s head and he ducked without even flinching. Huh. ‘ _Guess knowing there’s a poltergeist in your house really keeps you on your toes then?’_ Karkat thought, a little bewildered it missed him. He’d had time to hone his aim with pillows. “Calm down ghosty, I’ll put it back on in a second, jeez.” His tone was once again emotionless, and it made the ghost’s skin crawl a little, regardless of him being less than willing to admit that fact.   
  
  
The ghost flew into the kitchen, assuming that’s were everyone would be gathering. He was right, too. Rose and Dave entered, but three new people came with the set of twins. Two older kids and a woman the same age as Rose. “So where’s the ghost chick Rose was tellin’ us about?” Said one of the older kids. They had heart-shaped sunglasses, blonde hair in a quiff and a blue hoodie on. “I don’t know if they’re a he or she or a they yet, Roxy. But the voice on the speakers was pretty deep.” Dave shrugged. Roxy was very obviously an older brother, but he didn’t have as strong of a Texan accent compared the the younger twins. It seemed like Rose was desperate to hide hers, overcompensating with a large vocabulary and frequent deadpan sarcasm. To Roxy, however, the accent hiding came a lot more naturally. That or he’d just had more time away from the rest of them. The tallest of the group had yet to speak. He was wearing pointier versions of the sunglasses Dave was wearing, but his hair was almost doing an antigravity trick, looking a lot like a slick back version of how the character’s wore their hair in most anime’s. They were muscular and scarred from head to toe.   
  


“Dave, I know this is probably the coolest thing that’s happened to you since ever. But dude, you can’t go messing with ghosts.” The tall one spoke to what was presumably his brother. “Well, let’s at least give the tapes a listen?” Said the woman, ‘Kanaya’ Karkat guessed, leaning near Rose. She planted a kiss firmly on Rose’s cheek before striding into the kitchen and carefully picking up the recording object Dave was using before. She studied it curiously before handing it over to Dave. Dave pulled out a small circular device from his pocket, connected it to the other metal device the woman was previously holding with a cable form his other pocket. The group of three boys and two girls gathered round the kitchen table. Karkat hated the room if he was honest. It made him shiver.   
  


Dave began playing the recording back. Karkat listened intently as his voice traveled out through the speakers.

 _“If there are any spirits here, speak to me. I mean no harm.”_ Dave’s voice was a lot more cautious sounding then Karkat remembered. “... _Oh my god this isn’t insidious you cock sucking paranoid fashion disaster put that thing down, goddamn._ ” The thing cut off his mumbling in the beginning but played the rest back fine. An undignified snorting laugh came out from Rose and Roxy collectively, Dirk’s shoulders bounced up and down in silent amusement. Kanaya was grinning while Dave silently wheezed. “Oh my God, I’m living with a ghost, and he happens to be the greatest person ever.” He breathed in between wheezes. 

_“I can replay these later, please keep talking mr. or miss Demon dude._ ” Roxy gave him a flat look. “Mr or miss demon dude?” He asked Dave sceptically. Dave rolled his eyes.

_“For fuck sake you failed abortion put that thing away!”_ cam the ghost’s voice. The laughter grew even louder now. Kanaya even giggling a bit. Karkat would be lying if he wasn’t a little embarrassed by the whole situation. “ _Holy shit...umm, what’s your name_?” Past Dave mumbled. There was a beat of silence before Karkat cringed inwardly, remembering how he next answered his question.

“ _I’m going to start throwing furniture around maybe stab you. Actually I definitely won’t stab you but I swear to God I will break your fucking mirrors and give you so much bad luck!_ ”  
  


Ouch Yeah, that was actually really embarrassing. Dirk had broken now, and everyone was in hysterics. The next question was asked to much of the same response and personally Karkat had had enough. His hurt pride telling him to leave while he still could. But then, as Karkat debated leaving, he remembered the next question. And his own question he was rather desperate for an answer to.

 _“One more question. Are you here to hurt me or others?”_ Dave asked, sounding careful and worried.

“ _No. I’m not going to hurt anyone. But I have a request...”_

“What?” Asked Roxy who got a chorus of shooshes in response.   
  


“ _If you can understand this, I want you to help me figure something out. It says on a note I got that I have unfinished business. I don’t know what that is. I’ll let you live here, no more furniture throwing or anything, if you can help me figure out what the hell it’s meant to be. But if not, you can fuck right off._ ”

The tape ended and there was silence from everyone, even Dave and Roxy. “Shit man, you gotta help him.” The heart-shaped sunglasses wearing brother said with a sudden urgency. “What?” Dirk exclaimed. “This is clearly a trick. Come on Dave you can’t be actually considering this? That thing sounded angry.” He warned. Dave shrugged. “I dunno man, he sounds... kinda desperate.” Dirk groaned and Rose gave him a warning look. “Dirk.” Kanaya began gently. “Dave is an adult now. He can do what he likes.” It wasn’t hard to tell the tall man was scowling behind his shades at her. “Yeah. But I’m his brother and you’re not, are you?” Roxy put their hands infront of Dirk and Kanaya. “Woah woah woah settle down.” He asked, causing both of them to huff in annoyance. “I’m also Dave’s brother dude! You’re not his only older bro and I say as long as we help out he’ll be fine, yeah?” Dirk shook his head.

“Rox...you’re not serious about this? He’s a ghost! He’s trying to trick us!” The tall twenty year old insisted. They all just stared at him. He glared intensely at all of them. “Fuck this.” He declared, storming out of the room like a spoiled kid. “Dirk, wait.” Rose chased after him. Dave sank into his seat while Roxy rubbed his back and Kanaya gave him a sympathetic look. “Guys do you think...” he began. Kanaya gave him an expectant look.   
  


“Do you think he’s the kid that died here? The ghost I mean. Shit, he was my age and he got stabbed.” Dave put his head down on the table. It was about twenty minutes before a grumpy Dirk and a rather pleased with herself looking Rose came back into the warm, dimly lit kitchen. “We’ve decided,” rose began, indicating Dirk to finish her sentence with a jerk of her head. “I’m not happy. But if and when you contact your ghost buddy... I want to be there. That’s the only way I’m letting you talk to him. Capisce?” Dirk didn’t seem all that stubborn. Changing your mind in only twenty minutes? That didn’t sit right with karkat, not right at all.

“Really? Sure bro, deal.” The two brothers shook hands. The others gathered up their stuff. “I suppose I’ll leave now. Goodbye Dave, thank you for having us.” Kanaya said politely. “Bye Kanaya.” He responded. “Bye Dave’s ghost!” Roxy called out with a giggle. Karkat, despite is obvious lack of visibility, waved to Roxy. He liked Roxy. Although he didn’t really didn’t trust anyone here, especially not Dirk.   
  
  


——————————————  
  
  


Karkat’s thinking had gotten a lot less black and white. But his anger was still controlling him sometimes. At first, he liked Roxy and Rose, he tolerated Dave and Kanaya, and he didn’t like Dirk. But since becoming a ghost he suddenly had this almost painful intuition for people’s feelings. The more time he spent with others, the stronger this feeling became. Dave did not listen to Dirk, and the two became more closely acquainted. Although they couldn’t really banter with Karkat’s mumbled speech from Dave’s perspective, Karkat was sure to provide all the best light hearted insults directed to Dave on the playback. Eventually, he’d given out his name and revealed he was, in fact, the person who died here.

Dave had come back super excited after leaving the house for a few hours one day. He was practically bouncing up and down as he sped into the kitchen. “Karkat! Omg dude come here!” He all but screamed. “Jesus Christ Dave this is a bungalow don’t yell.” The ghost winced. “You here? I’m gonna assume you are because it’s a bit colder now then like a minute ago. It’s like chill now. You’re literally chill Karkat. The chillest motherfucking ghost ever to- do you know anymore ghosts? Cause that would be sick and we could have a ghost party and-“

Dave was promptly cut off from his rambling as his ghost pal opened a cupboard to throw a bag of crisps at his face. Which he willingly accepted. “I deserved that.” He laughed before placing the junk food back on the table. “But look! Dirk said I could talk to you a little before he comes over later this week. Which I’ve already been doing. Don’t tell him btw. But he made it so the transcommunicator gives me your exact words instantly!” His face practically lit up with glee, and Karkat couldn’t help but smile too. This would at least make talking a lot more seamless. If annoying that he still couldn’t be seen.   
  


He pulled out the transcommunicator, pushing the familiar green ‘on’ switch and waiting a second before it began working. Holding it up expectantly Karkat spoke. “If this actually works I swear to god...” he said clearly into the speakers. Almost instantly, his voice came back, no extensions needed, no longer did they have to wait an hour for auditory processing, and it actually sounded clearer too. No static or cracking. Dave jumped at the instantaneous results. “Holy shit! It works!” He exclaimed. “Quick, say something else!” Karkat nodded to himself. Originally going for an insult but...

“Tell Dirk I said thank you, ok? And thanks to you too. It’s really lonely like this... not being seen and shit. This helps though.”   
  


Karkat thought that that moment was probably the most sincere he’d ever been with Dave throughout the almost whole month they’d been living together. Dave looked taken aback at this, though his shades made it difficult to tell. “Shit, really? I guess I should have figured. But you’re my friend dude. If this helps with your loneliness then... fuck, I’m not good with this ok? Just... I dunno I’ll do more shit to help.” The stammering awkwardness was oddly endearing, add that to Karkat’s bleeding heart, Dave’s problem’s with showing emotion, and then genuineness of the blonde’s words and you’ve got a recipe for a tear coming out of Karkat’s eye. It spilled down his cheek. This was the first genuine time he’d been able to communicate verbally in a timely fashion in almost seven months...

He’d had no idea just how much he’d missed genuine social interaction. Fuck, being a ghost was harder than it looked, especially when you’re a poltergeist like Karkat is.

‘ _Shit, when did Dave’s smile suddenly become really cute?_ ’ The thought came into his head before he could suppress it. He cursed himself for it. But shit, he’d had a rough year. This was the first guy his age to talk to him like a person and not some weird nightmare creature. He’d let himself have a romantic thought, just this once though.

But with Karkat, romance never is ‘just this once’ is it now?

  
**No amount of positives was going to stop Karkat’s killer from completing their plans. They were not done with Karkat just yet.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, me? Starting a new fic while I have so many old ones to finish? Bullshit, totally not procrastinating those due to a lack of proper story planning...
> 
> Ok that’s exactly what I’m doing shut the fuck up.


End file.
